Stone Age “chewing gum” yields 5,700 yearold human genome and oral microbiome

T. Z. T. Jensen, J. Niemann, K. Højholt Iversen, A. K. Fotaki, S. Gopalakrishan, M.-H. S. Sinding, M. R. Ellegaard, M. E. Allentoft, L. T. Lanigan, A. J. Taurozzi, S. Holtsmark Nielsen, M. W. Dee, M. N. Mortensen, M. C. Christensen, S. A. Sørensen, M. J. Collins, M. T. P. Gilbert, M. Sikora, S. Rasmussen, H. Schroeder

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Abstract

We present a complete ancient human genome and oral microbiome sequenced from a
piece of resinous “chewing gum” recovered from a Stone Age site on the island of Lolland,
Denmark, and directly dated to 5,8585,661 cal. BP (GrM13305; 5,007±1 1). We sequenced the
genome to an average depthofcoverage of 2.3× and find that the individual who chewed the
resin was female and genetically more closely related to western huntergatherers from mainland
Europe, than huntergatherers from central Scandinavia. We use imputed genotypes to predict
physical characteristics and find that she had dark skin and hair, and blue eyes. Lastly, we also
recovered microbial DNA that is characteristic of an oral microbiome and faunal reads that likely
associate with diet. The results highlight the potential for this type of sample material as a new
source of ancient human and microbial DNA.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherbioRxiv
Number of pages32
Publication statusPublished - 2018

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